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英文原文
It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul's reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his sworn enemies. I. He begs help of God, because there were none among men whom he durst trust, Ps 12:1,2. II. He foretels the destruction of his proud and threatening enemies, Ps 12:3,4. III. He assures himself and others that, how ill soever things went now (Ps 12:8), God would preserve and secure to himself his own people (Ps 12:5,7), and would certainly make good his promises to them, Ps 12:6. Whether this psalm was penned in Saul's reign or no, it is certainly calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit foresaw that some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then. "O tempora, O mores!—Oh the times! Oh the manners!"
1-8
Complaints of the Times
繁體中文
對時代的哀嘆
交與伶長，調用舍米尼。大衛的詩。
¹ 耶和華啊，求祢幫助；因虔誠人斷絕了，世人中間的忠信人沒有了。
² 人人向鄰舍說謊；他們說話，是嘴唇油滑，心口不一。
³ 凡油滑的嘴唇和誇大的舌頭，耶和華必要剪除。
⁴ 他們曾說：我們必能以舌頭得勝；我們的嘴唇是我們自己的，誰能作我們的主呢？
⁵ 耶和華說：因為困苦人受欺壓，貧窮人唉哼，我現在要起來；把他安置在他所切慕的穩妥之地。
⁶ 耶和華的言語是純淨的言語，如同銀子在泥爐中煉過七次。
⁷ 耶和華啊，祢必保護他們，祢必保佑他們永遠脫離這世代。
⁸ 下流人在世人中升高，就有惡人到處遊行。
本篇詩篇為我們提供了在惡劣時期中當有的善念；在那種時候，智慧人雖會靜默不言（摩5:13），因為人可能因一句話就定為有罪，我們卻可像此處已為我們預備妥當、合宜的默想和禱告那樣，藉此安慰自己。
一、讓我們在此看看是甚麼使時代變壞，又在何種情形下可說時代變壞。若問屬這世界的人，按他們的看法，是甚麼使時代變壞，他們會告訴你：銀根緊、生意蕭條、戰爭的荒涼，使時代變壞。但聖經卻把時代的敗壞歸於性質不同的原因。提後3:1說：末世必有危險的日子來到，因為罪惡必增多；這也正是大衛此處所抱怨的。
1. 當敬虔和誠實在人中間普遍衰落之時，時代便真正變壞了（詩12:1）：虔誠人斷絕了，世人中間的忠信人沒有了。請注意這兩個特徵在此如何並列——敬虔人與忠信人。誠實既無，真敬虔便沒有，真策略也沒有。敬虔人就是忠信人，是「堅定」的人——他們有時被人如此稱呼；他們的話語如其誓言之可靠，如其契約之約束；他們無論對神對人，都以真誠為良心所繫。他們在此被說是斷絕和沒有了——或因死亡，或因背道，或兩者兼有。原本敬虔忠信的人被取去，所剩下的也大為退化，不復當年；以致真正以色列人中少有或全無敬虔人可尋。或許他的意思是：在掃羅的朝臣中再無敬虔忠信之人；若他是指在以色列中少有或全無，我們盼望他正如以利亞那樣犯錯——以利亞以為只剩下自己一人，其實神還留下七千個未曾向巴力屈膝的（羅11:3）；又或他的意思是相對而言為數甚少；那是宗教和美德普遍的衰落（這種情形下的時代確實是壞的，極其壞的），找不著一個行公平的人，耶5:1。
2. 當虛偽和諂媚敗壞了並腐蝕了一切交往，時代便極壞（詩12:2）——那時人普遍如此敗壞，對謊言毫無良心，又如此惡毒，要設計謀害鄰舍最惡毒的災禍，卻又如此卑鄙，用最動聽、最似是而非的友誼的藉口和表白來掩蓋這計謀。因此他們向鄰舍說虛謊的話（就是謊言），嘴唇油滑，心口不一。他們要親嘴也要殺人（如約押在所羅門自己的時代對押尼珥和亞瑪撒所行的那樣），要當面微笑，背後割喉。這正是魔鬼的形象完全，是惡意和虛謊的集合。當真誠蕩然無存，誠實人不知道該信誰、該託付誰，不敢信任朋友、不敢信任引導者之時，時代確實壞了，彌7:5,6，耶9:4,5。那些助長時代如此危險的人有禍了。
3. 當神、宗教和敬虔人的仇敵膽大妄為、公然挑釁，威脅要踐踏一切公義與神聖之事時，時代便極壞——當驕傲的罪人達到如此不敬虔的地步，以至於說：「我們必能以舌頭得勝，勝過美德的事業；我們的嘴唇是我們自己的，我們要說甚麼就說甚麼；誰能管轄我們，無論是攔阻我們，或是究問我們？」詩12:4。這話顯出：(1) 對自己的驕傲自負和自信，好像吃了禁果之後果真得著了所要的，他們就如神一般，獨立自足，能分辨善惡而無誤，因此適合作神諭；又大有权能而無可抵擋，因此適合作立法者——能用舌頭得勝，又如同神自己，說有就有。(2) 對神統治權的傲慢藐視，好像神對他們沒有主權——我們的嘴唇是我們自己的（這是不正當的宣稱，因為是誰造了人的口？人的氣息在誰手中？人所呼吸的空氣又是屬誰的？），又好像神沒有權柄命令他們或審判他們：誰能作我們的主呢？正如法老所言，出5:1。這話和前一句一樣荒謬無理；因為我們生活、動作、存留都在於祂，祂就必然是無可爭辯地作我們的主。
4. 當貧寒人和窮乏人受欺壓、受虐待、受輕慢，時代便極壞。這在（詩12:5）已隱含，神自己在那裡注意到困苦人所受的欺壓和窮乏人的唉哼；他們因貧窮而被欺壓，僅僅因為無力自衛，便受盡各樣的冤屈。他們既受欺壓，又不敢為自己開口，免得為自己申辯反成了罪狀；只好唉哼，暗自哀嘆自己的苦難，在神面前以嘆息傾吐自己的心聲。若有人為他們向欺壓者進言，欺壓者便嗤之以鼻，既輕看自己的罪，又輕看貧窮人的苦楚，兩者都不放在心上；見詩10:5。
5. 當罪惡氾濫、公然橫行，並且是在掌權者的庇護和縱容之下，時代便極壞，詩12:8。當下流人被高升到受託和掌權的位置（他們不但不按律法懲治罪惡和不義、按惡人所當得的報應刑罰他們，反而包庇保護他們，以自己的榜樣助長他們、維護他們的名聲），那時惡人到處遊行；他們在各方各處成群結黨，往來遊行，尋機欺騙、敗壞、毀滅別人；他們既不怕羞，也不知懼，公開暴露自己；他們將罪惡如所多瑪一般公開宣告，無人禁止或約束。惡人就是卑鄙的人，是最下流的人，無論他們在今世被高舉到何等地步，仍是如此。聖經稱那「尊貴的」安提阿古為卑鄙的人，但11:21。但當一個國家如此抬舉這等人，國家的景況就壞了；罪惡那時變得厚顏無恥、驕橫跋扈，不足為奇。惡人掌權，百姓就哀歎。
二、現在我們來看，在這樣壞的時代中，本篇為我們預備了哪些善念；至於我們還會被留在怎樣的時代中，誰也說不準。時代既如此敗壞，我們能想到以下各點，便得安慰：
1. 我們有一位可以投靠的神，可以從祂那裡求並期待一切冤屈得著伸雪。他正是以此開始（詩12:1）：「耶和華啊，求祢幫助，因為虔誠人斷絕了。一切別的幫助和幫助者都失效了；那些本該伸手扶持將亡之宗教事業的敬虔忠信之人也不在了，因此我們除了向祢，還能向誰求助呢？」請注意，當敬虔忠信的人斷絕、沒有了之時，正是該呼求「耶和華啊，求祢幫助」的時候。罪惡的氾濫威脅著一場洪水。「耶和華啊，求祢幫助，幫助那些行善的人；肯持守自己純正、站在破口防堵的人寥寥無幾；求祢幫助，拯救祢自己在世上的權益免致沉沒。耶和華啊，現在是祢動工的時候了。」
2. 神必定向虛謊驕傲的人算賬，必定刑罰並約束他們的狂妄。他們不受人的管束，並且向人挑釁。人無法識破諂媚者的虛謊，也無法壓抑那說驕傲話之人的傲氣；但公義的神必剪除一切油滑的嘴唇——那些給人猶大之吻、口中說比油更柔和的話、心中卻懷著爭戰的嘴唇；祂必拔出那向神和宗教說驕傲話的舌頭，詩12:3。有人將此譯作一個禱告：「願神剪除那些虛謊惡毒的嘴唇。願說謊的嘴唇啞口無言。」
3. 神到了時候必為受欺壓的百姓施行拯救，庇護他們脫離逼迫者的惡計（詩12:5）：現在，我要起來，耶和華說。大衛在此藉著預言的靈所傳達的神這應許，正是對他藉著禱告的靈向神所求之呼籲的回答。他說：「耶和華啊，求祢幫助」；神說：「我要；看啊，我在此，帶著及時而有效的幫助。」(1) 這幫助是及時的，在最美的時刻。[1] 當欺壓者在他們驕傲和狂妄的頂峰——當他們說「誰能作我們的主呢？」——那時正是神使他們付出代價地認識到祂在他們之上的時候。[2] 當受欺壓者在他們困苦和絕望的深處，當他們如同在埃及的以色列人因苦工而唉哼之時，那時正是神為他們顯現的時候——正如神在以色列人最沮喪、法老最得意之時為他們顯現一樣。現在，我要起來。請注意，受欺壓之無辜者的解救有定的時候；那時候必到，我們可以確信那是最合宜的時候，詩102:13。(2) 這幫助是有效的：我要把他安置在穩妥之地（或譯：拯救中），不僅保護他，更恢復他從前的昌盛，要領他出來進入豐富之地（詩66:12），以致總的來說，他因受苦毫無所失。
4. 人雖虛謊，神卻信實；人雖不可信，神卻可信。他們說虛謊和諂媚的話，但耶和華的言語是純淨的言語（詩12:6），不僅全然真實，更全然純淨，如同在泥爐（或坩堝）中煉過的銀子。這表明：(1) 神言語的真誠，一切都確如其上所記，絕非其他；它不戲弄我們，不欺哄我們，對我們也無別的用意，只為我們的益處。(2) 神言語的寶貴；它有極大而內在的價值，如同煉到最高純度的銀子；其中毫無可貶損之處。(3) 已有許多明證證實其能力和真實；它屢經試驗，歷代一切聖徒都信靠它、因而試驗它，它從未使他們失望，從未使他們的期望落空，他們都為神的言語是真實的作了見證——正可說「信那經歷過的」——他們親身證實如此。這話或許特別指著救助貧寒受欺壓者的這些應許。他們的朋友使他們存著盼望，以為會為他們做些甚麼，結果卻如一根折斷的蘆葦；但神的言語是我們可以倚靠的；人言越不可信，我們就越當滿有把握地信靠神的言語。
5. 無論時代多麼壞，神必將祂選民的餘數保守歸於自己（詩12:7）：祢必保佑他們永遠脫離這世代。這暗示，只要世界尚存，其中或多或少總有一代驕傲惡毒的人，企圖以他們可悲的詭計毀壞宗教——要磨碎至高者的聖民，但7:25。但讓神自己來維護祂的權益、保守祂的百姓吧。祂必保護他們脫離這世代，(1) 脫離被他們敗壞、被他們引誘離開神、與他們同流並學他們的行為。在普遍背道的時代，主認識誰是祂的人，他們也必蒙保守能持守純正。(2) 脫離被他們毀滅、連根拔除。教會建造在磐石上，有如此堅固的保障，以致陰間的權柄不能勝過它。在最壞的時代，神有祂的餘數；在每一個世代，祂都為自己保留聖潔的種子，並將其保守進入祂的天國。
我們唱這詩、以此禱告時，當為風俗普遍的敗壞哀歎，感謝神事情沒有變得更壞，並且禱告盼望到了神所定的時候必會好轉。
英文原文
Complaints of the Times
To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
¹ Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
² They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
³ The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
⁴ Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
⁵ For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
⁶ The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
⁷ Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
⁸ The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
This psalm furnishes us with good thoughts for bad times, in which, though the prudent will keep silent (Am 5:13) because a man may then be made an offender for a word, yet we may comfort ourselves with such suitable meditations and prayers as are here got ready to our hand.
I. Let us see here what it is that makes the times bad, and when they may be said to be so. Ask the children of this world what it is in their account that makes the times bad, and they will tell you, Scarcity of money, decay of trade, and the desolations of war, make the times bad. But the scripture lays the badness of the times upon causes of another nature. 2Ti 3:1, Perilous times shall come, for iniquity shall abound; and that is the thing David here complains of.
1. When there is a general decay of piety and honesty among men the times are then truly bad (Ps 12:1): When the godly man ceases and the faithful fail. Observe how these two characters are here put together, the godly and the faithful. As there is no true policy, so there is no true piety, without honesty. Godly men are faithful men, fast men, so they have sometimes been called; their word is as confirming as their oath, as binding as their bond; they make conscience of being true both to God and man. They are here said to cease and fail, either by death or by desertion, or by both. Those that were godly and faithful were taken away, and those that were left had sadly degenerated and were not what they had been; so that there were few or no good people that were Israelites indeed to be met with. Perhaps he meant that there were no godly faithful men among Saul's courtiers; if he meant there were few or none in Israel, we hope he was under the same mistake that Elijah was, who thought he only was left alone, when God had 7000 who kept their integrity (Ro 11:3); or he meant that there were few in comparison; there was a general decay of religion and virtue (and the times are bad, very bad, when it is so), not a man to be found that executes judgment, Jer 5:1.
2. When dissimulation and flattery have corrupted and debauched all conversation, then the times are very bad (Ps 12:2), when men are generally so profligate that they make no conscience of a lie, are so spiteful as to design against their neighbours the worst of mischiefs, and yet so base as to cover the design with the most specious and plausible pretences and professions of friendship. Thus they speak vanity (that is, falsehood and a lie) every one to his neighbour, with flattering lips and a double heart. They will kiss and kill (as Joab did Abner and Amasa in David's own time), will smile in your face and cut your throat. This is the devil's image complete, a complication of malice and falsehood. The times are bad indeed when there is no such thing as sincerity to be met with, when an honest man knows not whom to believe nor whom to trust, nor dares put confidence in a friend, in a guide, Mic 7:5,6, Jer 9:4,5. Woe to those who help to make the times thus perilous.
3. When the enemies of God, and religion, and religious people, are impudent and daring, and threaten to run down all that is just and sacred, then the times are very bad, when proud sinners have arrived at such a pitch of impiety as to say, "With our tongue will we prevail against the cause of virtue; our lips are our own and we may say what we will; who is lord over us, either to restrain us or to call us to an account?" Ps 12:4. This bespeaks, (1.) A proud conceit of themselves and confidence in themselves, as if the point were indeed gained by eating forbidden fruit, and they were as gods, independent and self-sufficient, infallible in their knowledge of good and evil and therefore fit to be oracles, irresistible in their power and therefore fit to be lawgivers, that could prevail with their tongues, and, like God himself, speak and it is done. (2.) An insolent contempt of God's dominion as if he had no propriety in them—Our lips are our own (an unjust pretension, for who made man's mouth, in whose hand is his breath, and whose is the air he breathes in?) and as if he had no authority either to command them or to judge them: Who is Lord over us? Like Pharaoh, Ex 5:1. This is as absurd and unreasonable as the former; for he in whom we live, and move, and have our being, must needs be, by an indisputable title, Lord over us.
4. When the poor and needy are oppressed, and abused, and puffed at, then the times are very bad. This is implied (Ps 12:5) where God himself takes notice of the oppression of the poor and the sighing of the needy; they are oppressed because they are poor, have all manner of wrong done them merely because they are not in a capacity to right themselves. Being thus oppressed, they dare not speak for themselves, lest their defence should be made their offence; but they sigh, secretly bemoaning their calamities, and pouring out their souls in sighs before God. If their oppressors be spoken to on their behalf, they puff at them, make light of their own sin and the misery of the poor, and lay neither to heart; see Ps 10:5.
5. When wickedness abounds, and goes barefaced, under the protection and countenance of those in authority, then the times are very bad, Ps 12:8. When the vilest men are exalted to places of trust and power (who, instead of putting the laws in execution against vice and injustice and punishing the wicked according to their merits, patronise and protect them, give them countenance, and support their reputation by their own example), then the wicked walk on every side; they swarm in all places, and go up and down seeking to deceive, debauch, and destroy others; they are neither afraid nor ashamed to discover themselves; they declare their sin as Sodom and there is none to check or control them. Bad men are base men, the vilest of men, and they are so though they are ever so highly exalted in this world. Antiochus the illustrious the scripture calls a vile person, Da 11:21. But it is bad with a kingdom when such are preferred; no marvel if wickedness then grows impudent and insolent. When the wicked bear rule the people mourn.
II. Let us now see what good thoughts we are here furnished with for such bad times; and what times we may yet be reserved for we cannot tell. When times are thus bad it is comfortable to think,
1. That we have a God to go to, from whom we may ask and expect the redress of all our grievances. This he begins with (Ps 12:1): "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth. All other helps and helpers fail; even the godly and faithful, who should lend a helping hand to support the dying cause of religion, are gone, and therefore whither shall we seek but to thee?" Note, When godly faithful people cease and fail it is time to cry, Help, Lord! The abounding of iniquity threatens a deluge. "Help, Lord, help the virtuous; few seek to hold fast their integrity, and to stand in the gap; help to save thy own interest in the world from sinking. It is time for thee, Lord, to work."
2. That God will certainly reckon with false and proud men, and will punish and restrain their insolence. They are above the control of men and set them at defiance. Men cannot discover the falsehood of flatterers, nor humble the haughtiness of those that speak proud things; but the righteous God will cut off all flattering lips, that give the traitor's kiss and speak words softer then oil when war is in the heart; he will pluck out the tongue that speaks proud things against God and religion, Ps 12:3. Some translate it as a prayer, "May God cut off those false and spiteful lips." Let lying lips be put to silence.
3. That God will, in due time, work deliverance for his oppressed people, and shelter them from the malicious designs of their persecutors (Ps 12:5): Now, will I arise, saith the Lord. This promise of God, which David here delivered by the spirit of prophecy, is an answer to that petition which he put up to God by the spirit of prayer. "Help, Lord," says he; "I will," says God; "here I am, with seasonable and effectual help." (1.) It is seasonable, in the fittest time. [1.] When the oppressors are in the height of their pride and insolence—when they say, Who is lord over us?—then is God's time to let them know, to their cost, that he is above them. [2.] When the oppressed are in the depth of their distress and despondency, when they are sighing like Israel in Egypt by reason of the cruel bondage, then is God's time to appear for them, as for Israel when they were most dejected and Pharaoh was most elevated. Now will I arise. Note, There is a time fixed for the rescue of oppressed innocency; that time will come, and we may be sure it is the fittest time, Ps 102:13. (2.) It is effectual: I will set him in safety, or in salvation, not only protect him, but restore him to his former prosperity, will bring him out into a wealthy place (Ps 66:12), so that, upon the whole, he shall lose nothing by his sufferings.
4. That, though men are false, God is faithful; though they are not to be trusted, God is. They speak vanity and flattery, but the words of the Lord are pure words (Ps 12:6), not only all true, but all pure, like silver tried in a furnace of earth or a crucible. It denotes, (1.) The sincerity of God's word, every thing is really as it is there represented and not otherwise; it does not jest with us, not impose upon us, nor has it any other design towards us than our own good. (2.) The preciousness of God's word; it is of great and intrinsic value, like silver refined to the highest degree; it has nothing in it to depreciate it. (3.) The many proofs that have been given of its power and truth; it has been often tried, all the saints in all ages have trusted it and so tried it, and it never deceived them nor frustrated their expectation, but they have all set to their seal that God's word is true, with an Experto crede—Trust one that has made trial; they have found it so. Probably this refers especially to these promises of succouring and relieving the poor and oppressed. Their friends put them in hopes that they will do something for them, and yet prove a broken reed; but the words of God are what we may rely upon; and the less confidence is to be put in men's words let us with the more assurance trust in God's word.
5. That God will secure his chosen remnant to himself, how bad soever the times are (Ps 12:7): Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. This intimates that, as long as the world stands, there will be a generation of proud and wicked men in it, more or less, who will threaten by their wretched arts to ruin religion, by wearing out the saints of the Most High, Da 7:25. But let God alone to maintain his own interest and to preserve his own people. He will keep them from this generation, (1.) From being debauched by them and drawn away from God, from mingling with them and learning their works. In times of general apostasy the Lord knows those that are his, and they shall be enabled to keep their integrity. (2.) From being destroyed and rooted out by them. The church is built upon a rock, and so well fortified that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In the worst of times God has his remnant, and in every age will reserve to himself a holy seed and preserve that to his heavenly kingdom.
In singing this psalm, and praying it over, we must bewail the general corruption of manners, thank God that things are not worse than they are, but pray and hope that they will be better in God's due time.
據推測，本篇詩篇是大衛在掃羅作王時所寫，那時無論朝廷還是民間，誠實與敬虔皆普遍敗壞；他在此向神訴苦，且感受至深，因他自己正因假朋友的背叛與死敵的狂妄而備受其害。一、他因無人可信而求神幫助（詩 12:1-2）。二、他預告那些驕傲威嚇之敵的毀滅（詩 12:3-4）。三、他向自己和他人保證，無論時局如今何等敗壞（詩 12:8），神必保護祂自己的百姓，使他們穩妥歸於自己（詩 12:5、7），並必向他們兌現祂的應許（詩 12:6）。無論本篇是否寫於掃羅年間，它確是為敗壞的王朝而設；或許大衛在靈裡預見他的某些繼任者會將國事敗壞到如此地步，便將本篇珍藏起來，供教會在那時使用。「O tempora, O mores!——這時代啊！這風俗啊！」